Dems try out ObamaCare repeal — in part

Ed MorrisseyPosted at 2:55 pm on July 30, 2010

Repeal Fever sweeps Washington! With Republicans surging in momentum in part based on the promised repeal of ObamaCare, a few House Democrats have decided to take a test drive on at least one part of the sweeping overhaul. Small businesses have screamed about the burden of the requirement to file 1099s on all business-to-business transactions over $600, and with the GOP also successfully painting Democrats as anti-business, Democrats want to rid themselves of the issue:

For the first time, House Democrats are proposing repealing a piece of the health care overhaul, one that small businesses have been warning is going to be overly burdensome.

The move comes just four months after the Democrats’ health plan passed in March. The provision would have required businesses to file 1099 tax forms for all transactions with vendors that total over $600.

Due for implementation in 2012, it would have raised $19 billion over 10 years to pay for the health care overhaul.

Rep. Scott Murphy (D-NY) offered the bill on Friday morning. Ways and Means Chairman Sander Levin (D-Mich.), spoke in favor of the bill on the House floor Friday.

Gee, you know what might have solved this problem in the first place? Knowing what the hell was in the bill before voting for it. If Democrats who crafted this portion of the bill had any experience in the private sector, especially in small business, they would have immediately recognized it for the disaster it will become, once in effect.

When the GOP says that Democrats are anti-business, this is precisely what it means. They wanted to get $19 billion from businesses to pay for their social engineering, and they didn’t care at all how they gleaned it.

The next question will be how Democrats will pay for the repeal. According to their pay-go rule, any cut in revenue has to be matched either with a commensurate increase elsewhere or by an equal spending cut. Otherwise, they not only violate the very rule that Democrats cheered on its passage in February, they also push ObamaCare into a deficit producer, even in their skewed calculations without the doctor-fix they passed in June.

Hopefully, this section gets repealed quickly. That should start some momentum for repealing the rest of it.

Update: Dems, not Dens. Or maybe it was Dens of Dems. Or something. Sorry about that!